Rams Update: Rookie McGee Pushing Johnson For Nickel Back Job

It may be a stretch to say there’s a full-fledged battle going on for the Rams’ nickel back job on defense. But at the very least, incumbent Trumaine Johnson is getting pushed by rookie Brandon McGee.

McGee, a fifth-round pick from the University of Miami (Fla.), worked with the starting defense in the nickel package Monday and Thursday, with Johnson working with the starters Tuesday and Friday. (Wednesday was a special teams workout.)

“We’re just alternating, just moving him up a little bit on the depth chart,” coach Jeff Fisher said of McGee. “He’s improving. He’s making a move, and he’s shown he can do some things on special teams. So we just want to make sure we’ve got enough people involved. He’s a very smart young man and he’s got a lot of football instincts for not playing a lot of football.”

McGee has a track background. He is one of the faster Rams, being timed in the high 4.3s in the 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine.

Just three weeks into his first NFL training camp, he’s thrilled to be working with the starting unit.

“It’s just a blessing, truthfully,” he said. “It makes me feel great. But you’ve also got to understand that every day you have to come to work. Just ‘cause you’re out there one day don’t mean you’ll be out there the next. “

McGee graded out pretty well in his preseason debut last week against Cleveland, with no “minus” marks.

“So that’s always a good thing,” McGee said.

As he spoke with reporters following practice earlier in the week, his skull cap featured a handwritten tribute to his mother Hilda, who died of breast cancer when McGee was 13. He has worn some kind of tribute on the cap before a football practice or game ever since. He also has a tattoo of his mother’s likeness on his right biceps.

“My mom was my everything, is my everything,” McGee said. “To this day she’s my main motivation. . . .I have a picture of her in my locker. I’ll get a bigger one once the season starts, get a bigger poster-sized picture and put it in my locker just to remind me each and every day that she’s with me.”

Re: Rams Update: Rookie McGee Pushing Johnson For Nickel Back Job

Think we can give him a shot at kickoff returns? He might be better than Pead. I hope McGee providing a challenge for Johnson is more on him being substantially better than we anticipated rather than Johnson regressing.